Chapter 367 Warning Others By Making Examples of A Few
Murong - the infamous half-beast and half-human - was killed. The only traces of his existence were the pieces of blood and flesh splashed on the street and the people nearby.
Perhaps his skeleton could also count, but as Kiba took a step over it, a crunching sound ringed out, and the skeleton disintegrated into a fine powder.
Over twenty people were in the area. Just a few moments ago, their eyes were filled with naked greed and they envied Murong's luck as he pounced on Kiba. But now, after seeing Murong's fate and their own stained body, they rejoiced in their hearts.
There was a complete pin drop silence as Kiba slowly stepped forward. He stretched a hand and filaments of white light concentrated above his palm. The filaments concentrated to converge into a jelly-like crystalline ore.
It was translucent and colorless, despite the fact that glowing particles were flowing through it. The fluctuations emitted by the ore were pure and serene, like a newborn baby.
The onlookers gasped in surprise. They knew its name even though it was the first time they were seeing it.
Body Molding Ore.
How could they not know its name, after all, it was the reason for the death of Murong and their initial greed.
The ore was absolutely beautiful and dazzling. The moment they saw it, every part of their consciousness erupted with a desire to own it.
Such was the allure of the ore and its properties.
Despite the strong desire, not a single person dared jump to steal it.
Kiba swept his gaze over everyone, but no one dared make eye contact with him. They even didn't focus on the ore.
"I seem to recall many of you showing a strong interest in it," Kiba said as the ore flew out of his hand and moved forward.
It floated in front of the man who had initially pointed out Kiba and his role in the auction robbery.
As he saw the orb soaring in front of him, emitting a dazzling presence, the man's mouth turned dry and his knees started trembling.
He regretted his actions and wished he was born mute.
"Come on, take it," Kiba encouraged him with a warm smile.
The man was at the beginning of Beta-rank, and usually, he would grab anything he wanted regardless if it was owned or not. That was his attitude and he wouldn't care a bit if others whined or begged.
But now, much less grab the ore, the man didn't even dare move. He didn't want to do anything that might send a wrong signal and loose his poor life.
The vibrant glow from the ore swept on his face but he continued to stand like a statue; praying the ore would go away.
"Haah~ Here I thought you were really in need of it," Kiba said with a sigh. "Oh well... if you don't want it..."
The ore flew away from the man's body. The man's eyes brightened and he took a breath in relief, but just then, his heart thumped violently.
Even before he could realize what was going on, his body exploded into a pile of blood and flesh.
The people nearby turned ashen as the grisly liquid blotched over them. Till now, they were relieved as they felt they were safe. Now, they realized the safety was just in their minds.
The scythe of the grim reaper was still hanging over their heads...
In the meantime, the ore - which was as small as a baby's fist - appeared in front of a bulky man with wrinkles.
It was him who reminded people the other treasures Kiba robbed besides the ore.
The bulky man was horrified and even before he could blink, the ore landed in his right hand. His eyes crawled with threads of blood as if he was carrying a lump of burning coal. Judging from his expression, no one would believe his hand was grasping a treasure envied by countless.
The bulky man didn't know what to do. Thousands of thoughts ran in his mind like wild horses.
Should he return it back?
But if he did return, then would his fate be the same as the man before?
"Ah! So you do want the ore!" Kiba's voice entered his ears like an avalanche.
"N-no! I don't want it!" The bulky man instantly screamed his answer.
"Huh? But then it is in your hand and you are grabbing it rather tightly," Kiba replied in confusion.
The bulky man's face paled and he opened his hand to throw away the ore, but much to his terror, his hand wasn't opening.
It was as if his fingers were glued to the core.
Large beads of sweat dripped from his eyebrows and fell in his eyes, causing a burning sensation, but he ignored the pain. All his focus was on opening his hand and toss the deathly item.
Veins protruded out of his neck and face as he applied great strength to free his fingers without any success.
"My fingers are stuck! But please know I don't want it!" The bulky man shouted.
"Really?"
Kiba's tone denoted that he believed him. This eased the tension the bulky man was feeling.
"Let me help," Kiba stepped in front of him. He took the bulky man's hand in his, and opened a finger with negligible force.
The bulky man was so happy that tears began flowing out of his eyes but just as his one finger opened, the finger exploded into chunks of flesh and bone.
He screamed but more agony followed as his other fingers similarly exploded as they left the ore.
"Huh? What happened to your fingers?" Kiba asked as he grabbed the orb back and looked at the bulky man's bloody hand.
"Nothing happened, sir," The bulky man didn't dare blame him. "They didn't deserve to exist after tainting this priceless treasure."
"If you say so," Kiba nodded and left.
The bulky man suppressed the pain and prayed no more misfortune would follow. Perhaps the gods listened to his wish as he saw Kiba disappearing at the end of street.
"Phew!"
He was under so much stress that he was on verge of a heart attack. But now, his heart calmed down and he prayed to the god for the first time.
"Thank you, god!"
Just as he thanked god, his body blasted into pieces.
The onlookers felt a chill crawling up their spines and their bodies turned cold. Many of them even wet their pants, and an unpleasant smell appeared...
On another street, Kiba strolled around while admiring the beautiful village. He took out a cigarette and lit it up with a spark of fire from his fingertip.
He took a long drag and exhaled a wisp of silver-grey smoke. He watched as the smoke disappeared in thin air.
Earlier, he killed Murong and those two men in order to warn others. While he enjoys toying around, after a while, he was tired and rather bored.
He knew his goals and the core region was just about to open up. He didn't want to face more idiots later on just because they believed he was an easy target. Till now he had a lot of time to spare but not any longer.
After what he did, the news would spread, and most likely stop others from acting on their greed...
Kiba enjoyed the sweet toxin of the cigarette as he walked further.